Gordon Brown Goes a Bit Green
Submitted by allgreen on Wed, 12/06/2006 - 06:25
Today Gordon Brown, in what is expected to be his last Pre-Budget Report as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, laid out a couple of moves in the green direction.
- The 3-year freeze on petrol duty is off as he announced a 1.25 pence rise in a litre of fuel at the pump from midnight tonight.
- Doubling of air passenger duty on short-haul flights which will rise from £5 to £10 and £20 more for long-haul flights from 1st February 2007.
- The treasury will extend the duty period on discounts for certain types of green fuel and announced a "package of measures to encourage the development of the biofuels market"
- Brown mentioned plans to investigate building Britain's first carbon-capture and storage plant.
- Brown intends to promote the development of the global carbon market by expanding and strengthening the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
- Within 10 years Brown expects every new home to be a zero-carbon home, with all new zero-carbon homes being exempt from stamp duty.
- Legislation to ensure that microgeneration of power by householders is not subject to income tax on payments for surplus energy exported back into the grid.
- Extension of the Landlords Energy Saving Allowance to the year 2015 and to corporate landlords.
- Confirmation that landfill tax will rise from £24 a tonne to £27 a tonne from the 1st of April 2007 with sharper rises in landfill tax from 2008 onwards.
Well that's a start but, as the Lib Dems pointed out, it appears that Brown is only setting aside 0.1% of GDP for rectifying the UK's contribution to global warming & pollution whereas the Stern Report indicated 1% of GDP should be spent.
And that's our quick summary, but if you want the in-depth data be sure to visit HM Treasury website to read more on the Pre Budget Report.